Mel Heifetz (born November 4, 1935) is a Philadelphia-based real estate developer, philanthropist, and LGBT activist. He is a nationwide supporter of

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

causes in America. and in 2018, he was awarded the

Philadelphia Award The Philadelphia Award is given each year to a citizen of the Philadelphia region who, during the preceding year, acted and served on behalf of the best interests of the community. Created by Edward William Bok in 1921, The Philadelphia Award is a ...

Early life

Heifetz grew up poor in

South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west.Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents. Heifetz's parents were

hairdresser A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be refe ...

s and from the age of eight, he began working by cleaning his parents' salon and selling door-to-door with his father. Heifetz enrolled at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

to study real estate but left after one year. Heifetz is a distant relative of violinist

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-born American violinist. Born in Vilnius, he moved while still a teenager to the United States, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. He was a virtuoso since childhood. Fritz ...

Career and activism

Heifetz maintains a relationship with the

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the United States Constitution, Constitution and L ...

, whose attorneys successfully defended him in the 1950s when his first business, the Humoresque coffeehouse, was raided by police for welcoming interracial and gay couples. Heifetz's experience with Humoresque and the ACLU marked the beginning of his activism against injustice and abuse. Heifetz built himself as a businessman and developed real estate, gay bars, and hotels, including the Alexander Inn, Philadelphia’s first gay hotel. From 1996 until 2013, Heifetz owned and operated Sisters, Philadelphia's only

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

bar. Heifetz made a major donation in 2005, which paid off the mortgage of Philadelphia’s

William Way LGBT Community Center The William Way LGBT Community Center is a nonprofit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and nearby communities, located at 1315 Spruce Street in Philadelphia in the Gayborhood. ...

. In 2015, the

honored Heifetz with their Humanitarian of the Year Award. In October 2017, Heifetz donated $16 million to

The Philadelphia Foundation The Philadelphia Foundation is a community foundation that serves the Greater Philadelphia community. The five primary counties served are Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery. It is one of the oldest and largest community fou ...

’s GLBT Fund of America, with the fund’s income annually supporting LGBT groups. The GLBT Fund of America was initially established in 2007 and its money supports civil rights causes, social justice, and health needs through LGBT groups such as

The Trevor Project The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, they offer a toll-free telephone number wher ...

, Attic Youth Center, and GALAEI. Also in 2017, Heifetz became a founding benefactor to the Gloria Casarez Residence, Pennsylvania’s first young adult LGBT-friendly permanent supporting housing project. Through donating $1 million to President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's 2012 Presidential reelection campaign and $1 million to

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

's 2016 campaign, Heifetz officially became the biggest political donor in Pennsylvania. In his February 2016 Huffington Post piece, Heifetz cites

's track record on LGBT rights as a motivating factor for supporting him.

Awards and recognition

In addition to the 2018

and the 2015

Humanitarian of the Year award, Heifetz was the 2014 recipient of the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund Lifetime Legacy Award and the 2008

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

Equality Award.

The Philadelphia Award The Philadelphia Award is given each year to a citizen of the Philadelphia region who, during the preceding year, acted and served on behalf of the best interests of the community. Created by Edward William Bok in 1921, The Philadelphia Award is a ...

was established by

Edward William Bok Edward William Bok (born Eduard Willem Gerard Cesar Hidde Bok) (October 9, 1863 – January 9, 1930) was a Dutch-born American editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He was editor of the '' Ladies' Home Journal'' for 30 years (1889–1919). ...

and past winners of the award include businesswoman and philanthropist

Leonore Annenberg Leonore Cohn Annenberg (February 20, 1918 – March 12, 2009), also known as Lee Annenberg, was an American businesswoman, diplomat, and philanthropist. She was noted for serving as Chief of Protocol of the United States from 1981 to 1982. Annenb ...

and architect

Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whi ...

. In September 2019, the Equality Forum and

LGBT History Month LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the List of LGBT rights by region, gay rights and related civil rights movements. It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high- ...

awarded Heifetz with their Frank Kameny award, named in honor of LGBT civil rights movement leader

Frank Kameny Franklin Edward Kameny (May 21, 1925 – October 11, 2011) was an American gay rights activist. He has been referred to as "one of the most significant figures" in the American gay rights movement. In 1957, Kameny was dismissed from his po ...

. Past recipients of Equality Forum’s Frank Kameny award include activist

Peter Staley Peter Staley (born January 9, 1961) is an American political activist, known primarily for his work in HIV/AIDS activism. As an early and influential member of ACT UP, New York, he founded both the Treatment Action Group (TAG) and the education ...

and former Pennsylvania Governor

Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philade ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heifetz, Mel 1935 births Living people American real estate businesspeople American philanthropists American LGBT rights activists Activists from Philadelphia American gay men American LGBT businesspeople LGBT people from Pennsylvania Gay Jews Gay businessmen 21st-century American Jews